To ensure that a satellite orbiting an asteroid was indeed two moons stuck together, the astronomers observing it needed to take a second look. That double take confirmed that they were seeing this phenomenon for the first time, according to a report in Nature.
Last November, NASA’s Lucy — a spacecraft launched to explore asteroids as far away as Jupiter — sailed past its first target, Dinkinesh (which drew the nickname Dinky).
Astronomers following the spacecraft’s data transmission noticed that Dinky had company. A small satellite the team called Selam was orbiting it. As Lucy sent more data back to Earth, the researchers noticed something unusual about the images — the satellite appeared to have two lobes, like halves of a Valentine’s Day heart.
But they weren't sure. “In the first images we downloaded of the closest approach, the two lobes were nearly on top of each other,” says Jessica ...
